The City of Suspended Bridges — Algeria's third-largest city occupies a rock plateau severed from the surrounding landscape by the Rhumel River Gorge, and eight bridges — including a pedestrian suspension bridge at 175 metres above the river — are the only way in
Constantine is one of the most dramatically situated cities in the world — built on a rock plateau that the Rhumel River Gorge has cut off on three sides, leaving sheer cliffs of 175–250 metres dropping directly from the edges of the city. Eight bridges cross the gorge to connect Constantine to the surrounding landscape, ranging from the Sidi M'Cid Bridge (a suspension bridge 175 m above the river, built by a French engineer in 1912 and one of the highest bridges in the world at its construction) to the El Kantara arch bridge (Roman foundations, rebuilt in 1863) to a modern cable-stayed bridg…
Constantine was founded as Cirta by the Phoenicians and served as the capital of the Numidian Kingdom under Masinissa (the ally of Rome against Carthage in the Second Punic War, 218–201 BCE). It was the most important Berber city of antiquity — Masinissa's kingdom extended from Morocco to Tripolitania, and Cirta was the administrative and cultural centre. The city was destroyed in 311 CE during the wars between Roman factions and was immediately rebuilt by Emperor Constantine I, who renamed it after himself (making it 'Cirta Constantina', shortened to Constantina, then Constantine). It remain…